Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation has acquired the rights to <i>The Forever War</i>, an award-winning 1974 novel by science fiction author and MIT writing professor Joe Haldeman. The film will be directed by Ridley Scott, whose last science fiction films were <i>Alien </i>and <i>Blade Runner</i>. The producers are now searching for a writer.

The United States is failing to develop the math skills of both girls and boys, especially among those who could excel at the highest levels, a new study asserts, and girls who do succeed in the field are almost all immigrants or the daughters of immigrants from countries where mathematics is more highly valued.

Georgia Green, a music education professor at Baylor University in Waco, Tex., said she did not believe it when a colleague told her in June that Baylor was offering incoming freshmen financial incentives to retake the SAT.

For the second time this year, the MIT Energy Initiative awarded over $1.7 million in seed grants to energy research. The grants fund 17 energy projects ranging from designing solar cookers for third world countries to synthesizing thin-films for thermoelectric power.

The ‘admissions blogs,’ weblogs sponsored by the MIT admissions office, have seen at least two entries removed within the past year. The first, relating to last spring’s Ring Committee flame war, was removed following requests from Admissions. The other, drawing criticism for what was deemed inappropriate content, was removed by the blogger. The student blogs are generally student-run and do not usually have content removed after it is initially posted.

With a long recession looming, the government is enacting drastic measures to curb the recent financial problems, but when will things improve? Is Congress doing enough? Can Congress even solve the problem now?

By
Oct. 17, 2008

If you’re trying to keep track of information on prisoners held by the U.S. government at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a great resource is <i>http://scotusblog.com</i>, a legal blog about the Supreme Court run by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP.

For decades, the United States dominated the technological revolution sweeping the globe. The nation’s science and engineering skills produced vast gains in productivity and wealth, powered its military and made it the de facto world leader.

Switzerland extended urgent help Thursday to its storied banking industry as the government acknowledged that even the world’s biggest wealth haven needed protection from the tumult gripping the global financial system.

Oil prices dropped below $70 a barrel for the first time in 14 months on Thursday, prompting the OPEC cartel to call for an emergency meeting next week to establish some stability in prices that have swung wildly along with the stock market this year.

One week ago, Joe Wurzelbacher was just another working man living in a modest house outside Toledo, Ohio, and thinking about how to expand the plumbing business where he works. But when he stopped Sen. Barack Obama during a visit to his block last weekend to complain about taxes, he set himself on a path to becoming America’s newest media celebrity and as such suddenly found himself facing celebrity-level scrutiny.

By
Dale FuchsSomini SenguptaMiguel HelftJulie Bosman
Oct. 17, 2008

The crusading investigative judge Baltasar Garzon opened Spain’s first criminal investigation into Franco-era executions and repression with an order Thursday to open 19 mass graves, including one believed to contain the remains of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

“A wolf with a limited point of view” — this is how Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (then president) referred to the United States days after Condoleezza Rice spoke on US-Russian cooperation at Boston College in May 2006.

It was only a month ago that Democrats had a serious fear of losing the 2008 presidential election. The nomination of Sarah Palin was thought to be the beginning of the end of the Obama juggernaut. This was the first time that McCain had held a lead nationally since May — far before Obama had wrapped up the nomination.

Barack Obama and John McCain faced off in their last presidential debate this Wednesday, and by many measures, it was the most interesting of the three rumbles. The senators tackled the economy, healthcare, energy, and for the first time, abortion, education and the nomination of justices for the Supreme Court.

By
Oct. 17, 2008

Because of a production error, the Oct. 14, 2008 story “Gender Ratios Vary Widely Across MIT Courses” incorrectly described the coloring of a chart showing graduate student gender ratios by major as “mostly magenta.” In fact it is mostly cyan, indicating that the composition of many graduate programs is more heavily male. Also because of a production error, the article incorrectly stated that the chart for undergraduates “has slightly more cyan than magenta” because women are the majority in more departments; in fact, that chart has more magenta than cyan for that reason.

When did classical music become boring? It’s not hard to understand why it is: music is taught at schools on a pedestal lower than, yet not distinct from calculus, English literature or honors French. It’s been mummified beyond recognition — at some point, students are asked not to listen to music, but to <i>understand</i> the music — in fact, there are musical rules, drills and practices that students must complete with stoic integrity, an entire body of history to digest and, if you can imagine — <i>exams</i>, even.

Modern classical performance is often a rigid form — a study of strict tempos, pitches, and moods. The performers take it upon themselves to recreate the vision of the original artist, and as that artist is usually dead, that recreation can become a study in accuracy rather than exploration — what <i>not </i>to play, rather than <i>what </i>to play.

Almost a year ago, I reviewed Noah Baumbach’s <i>Margot at the Wedding</i>: a film about a damaged and grotesquely self-involved woman, Margot, returning to her childhood home to attend her sister’s wedding. The family collapses and rebuilds over the course of film, with Margot always at its center. At a cursory glance, Jonathan Demme’s new film, <i>Rachel Getting Married</i>, is the exact same story.

The Steinbrenner Foundation, which helped shape the outdoor landscape at MIT over 30 years ago with a gift leading to the construction of the Institute’s most prominent athletic venue, has made another generous pledge as MIT continues to celebrate the legacy of Henry G. Steinbrenner ’27. The gift will aid in the construction of a new entrance and pathway from Vassar Street to Steinbrenner Stadium and will also include lighting, seating, and a new press box.